BJP will wrest 15 Lok Sabha, 75 Assembly seats in Odisha says Amit Shah

Rourkela : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday claimed that Odisha would turn saffron after the elections, since the BJP would win over 75 Assembly and 15 Lok Sabha seats.

He asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already won 270 Lok Sabha seats in the first four phases of elections and is now moving towards 400. ‘’With more than 15 MPs and 75 MLAs, Odisha is about to be coloured saffron. This election is the election to make Narendra Modi the PM for the third time,’’ Shah said while addressing a rally at Rourkela. The State has 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats.

Referring to the missing keys of the Puri Jagannath temple ‘Ratna Bhandar’ (treasure chest), Shah alleged that Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik is misleading people and playing with their faith. The missing keys of the Ratna Bhandar have been a major political issue in Odisha for the past few years.

Shah said this election is to restore Odisha’s pride, language, culture and tradition. He also claimed that the Odisha government is run by officers.

“This election is to make Modiji the Prime Minister for the third time. This election aims to make India the world’s third-largest economy.

This election aims to create three crore ‘lakhpati didis’ in the country. This election is an election to start a new era of development by dethroning Naveen Babu (CM Naveen Patnaik) in Odisha,” the Home Minister said.

Highlighting President Droupadi Murmu’s journey, Shah said that PM Modi has left no stone unturned to ensure the tribals’ welfare. “An amount worth Rs 200 crore has been earmarked for building a tribal museum in the country. The budget for tribal welfare has been increased to Rs 1,24,000 crore.

Also, 740 Eklavya Model residential schools have been established for empowering the tribal students,” the Home Minister said.

He also mentioned that officials are running the State government instead of the elected representatives. “Who should run the government, the elected MPs and MLAs or the officers? Under Naveen Babu, officers are running the government for which tribals are losing their land,” Shah said.

He recalled that PM Modi welcomed the world leaders in front of an image of Konark Sun temple during the G20 Summit last year and had also released a commemorative stamp and coin on the Paika Rebellion.

The BJP has fielded former Union minister Jual Oram from Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat where the polling is going to be held on May 20.

Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are being held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases from May 13 to June 1. The results will be out on June 4.